Around US$20-billion shortfall in Bangladesh's export proceeds for last two fiscal years has been detected initially as the Export Promotion Bureau started a recheck of shipments following a miscalculation row, sources said.
Following the finding of the faux pas in export calculation, the EPB put on the backburner publication of the export data for June, the last month of the past fiscal.
Of the total, said people familiar with the recount matter, over US$10.5 billion worth of less export earnings have been estimated for the just-concluded fiscal year of 2023-24 while the export value could be over US$9.0-billion less than the figures previously published in the 2022-23 fiscal.
After the revision, the country's export earnings for the financial year 2023-24 might decrease to around US$44.5 billion.
Before identification of the discrepancies, the EPB had prepared an export-earning figure of US$55.28 billion for the past fiscal year of 2023-24, although it has yet to publish the data, they added.
The country's export earnings for fiscal year 2022-23 were US$55.56 billion as published by the export bureau.
"Already we have received the data from the National Board of Revenue and we are working on the same against the backdrop of the data mismatch," Md Anwar Hossain, vice chairman of the EPB, told the FE correspondent.
He wouldn't elaborate on the impugned matter, but said all the three organisations -- EPB, NBR and Bangladesh Bank -- got down to working in a coordinated manner to avert discrepancies in statistics in future.
He notes it is not possible to say when the revised export data would be published.
Following the central-bank correction of overseas sales figures, the EPB is also taking more time in publishing the export data for the month of June. Usually it publishes its data within the first four to five days of the first week of a month.
Earlier on July 03, Bangladesh Bank data showed that actual exports during the period of July-April of fiscal year 2023-24 were $13.80-billion lower than the shipment value of goods published by the EPB.
And it also revealed US$9.54-billion less export value for the first 10 months of the fiscal 2022-23.
According to the EPB, exports fetched US$45.67 billion in the first 10 months of the fiscal year 2022-23 and US$47.47 billion in 2023-24 fiscal respectively.
The central bank reported US$33.67 billion and US$36.13 billion during July-April period of 2023-24 and 2022-23 fiscal respectively.
Some errors, including multiple entries, the entry of FoB value for CMT (Cut, Make, and Trim) exports, and double counting of local exports from the Export Processing Zones have been identified as the primary reasons for the mismatch in export figures, sources said.
They will also establish a common definition of export to avoid ambiguity, as the National Board of Revenue or NBR considers shipments of samples and gifts as export, while the Bangladesh Bank doesn't.
The Bangladesh Bank in its revised data says the NBR revises and provides the export shipment data to the central bank and the EPB by adjusting multiple entries.
The central bank says it compiled the export data (FoB) based on local sales, CMT or cutting, making and trimming, and so while CMT export involves fabrics and yarn provided free of cost, which are then converted to garments and exported.
Economists have said that wrong arithmetic of export would necessitate a redo of the country's macroeconomic indicators.
Munni_fe@yahoo.com